


Dealing with loss

by rarepairqueen



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, First Dates, First Kiss, M/M, References to Depression, Sakurai's A+ cooking, Tiny bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 02:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8352142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarepairqueen/pseuds/rarepairqueen
Summary: Aomine's mental state after losing to Seirin wasn't the best, skipping both class and practice for a week after the match prompts Momoi to confide in one of the only people who knows how Aomine feels.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this started out as a vent piece which then got abandoned only to be revitalised a few months down the line.  
> And in a vague hope of actually completing it this time; I've invented a 2nd chapter (tags to be updated when the 2nd chapter is up).
> 
> (Sidenote: because this is a vent piece everyone might be slightly OOC so please forgive me for that)

One

 

"Dai-chan will you please eat something?" Momoi sighed, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded the miracle lying in his bed. "It's been a week since that match, you can't wallow in pity forever."

"Don't wanna." Aomine grumbled. "Just leave me alone Satsuki."

The girl huffed, accepting defeat again as she left his room and closed the door behind her. The loss to Seirin was hitting the team hard, there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding how Aomine was feeling and the manager was under increasing pressure from both Imayoshi and their coach to get to the bottom of it soon. The ace hadn't attended class or practice in a week, he had only been eating the bare minimum and had hardly left his house except when his mother dragged him food shopping. Momoi had grown increasingly worried as the days went by and turned up uninvited at Aomine's house to find the ace in a sorry state. After single-handedly cleaning up his room and forcing him to shower, Momoi had hit a brick wall in regards to getting Aomine out of this post-loss slump.

She sighed as she leaned against the closed door and withdrew her phone, tapping through contacts until she found Imayoshi's number to report back on. Halfway through typing a message, she got a small idea. It was a somewhat long shot but it was worth a try.

"Yes Momoi-san?" Sakurai sounded just as beat up as Aomine when he answered the phone.

"Ryou-kun can I ask you for a favour?" She hummed.

 

* * *

 

When Sakurai agreed to pay Aomine a visit, he wasn't sure _why_ Momoi had enlisted him of all people. He was probably one of the last people Aomine wanted to see in that moment, but nevertheless, Momoi seemed to think it was a good idea so he went along with it. He hesitantly knocked on the door to Aomine's apartment and was greeted almost immediately by Momoi.

"You were fast." She remarked with a smile.

"I...uh don't live that far away." Sakurai murmured, already second-guessing his choice. He was invited in by Momoi and the whole situation of 'Dai-chan is refusing to eat but we all know I can't cook so I figured you'd be the next best person' was explained to him. As it stood, Sakurai felt a little flattered. He smiled and thanked the other for thinking of him but then confessed that he had no idea what Aomine would want him to cook.

"Hm? Oh that doesn't matter, just cook _something_ Ryou. I...he needs to eat something." Momoi's smile faded as she glanced at the closed bedroom door. "And he's always eating your bento so there's gotta be something you can make."

Sakurai's cheeks flushed red. "T-True." He uttered, slowly starting to rummage through Aomine's kitchen, he was already thinking about what he could possibly cook that the other would eat. At home he had already made several meals for himself to try and keep his mind occupied, losing to Seirin had knocked his already fragile confidence and he blamed himself for fouling and giving away crucial points. Yet now tasked with trying to make Aomine feel better, he felt himself slowly getting over his own emotional blockage.

Neither of them spoke as Sakurai decided on something based on what ingredients were at hand, he busied himself chopping up the fragrant food after setting some chicken in a pan to fry. Momoi watched in silence, taking note of how the first year's usual skittish nature melted away as he cooked. The aroma of frying garlic started wafting through the air, Sakurai hummed to himself as he mixed everything together in a stir fry, a small smile on his face as he dished out the meal into a bowl and found a set of chopsticks.

"So do you want to--" Sakurai stated before Momoi shook her head.

"I think you should do it, you're his team mate Ryou." She smiled, leading him down to where Aomine's bedroom door remained closed. "You understand how he feels more than me right now."

Sakurai's eyes widened, staring at the bowl in his hands as he nodded slightly. He expected Momoi to at least enter the room with him but she did not, instead she called through to Aomine that there was someone to see him, opening the door and ushering Sakurai inside. IT occurred to Sakurai, that he had never really spoken to Aomine outside of practice, let alone been to his house. He noted that it was cleaner due to Momoi's interference but still had the typical teenage boy look to it; clothes piled on the floor, clutter all over the desk and dresser, curtains haphazardly pulled closed leaving the room with a dark and gloomy feel.

"Aomine?" He spoke quietly, the sound of blankets moving spooked him but he stood his ground as Aomine half-sat up and rubbed his face.

"Sakurai? the hell are you doing here?" He grumbled.

"Uh, Momoi called me and asked me to come over--"

"Oh great...I expect she wanted you to give me some crap pep talk huh." Aomine sighed, falling back onto his bed. "Well I don't need it."

Sakurai sighed, partly in relief that Aomine hadn't just ignored him but also in slight irritation at how stubborn the ace was going to be. It was fine to be upset about losing, he and the rest of the team were upset too, but skipping both school and practice because of it was beyond stupid, especially when Aomine possessed such skills that Sakurai could only be envious of.

"Actually she wanted me to make sure you ate." Sakurai replied, forcing his shaking legs to carry him to the other's bedside. "She figured that because you eat my bento all the time, that maybe I'd manage to get you eating again."

Aomine grunted, tugging his blankets tighter around him. "Don't bother, I don't feel like eating."

"Why?" Sakurai asked, setting the bowl down on the cluttered table. "Is it because you lost to Kuroko?"

"Don't act like you know what I'm going through." Aomine muttered.

If Sakurai had learnt anything from being on a team with Aomine, it was that the ace never like to admit his weaknesses. He'd put up an act to make it hard for anyone to question him, to challenge him, to point out his flaws. Usually it worked, it was how Touou had come to be a powerhouse team after all, but now that it had been proven that he could really be beaten, Aomine's act was failing. In a weird way, it was what gave Sakurai confidence in that situation. The shooter was used to picking himself up after failing, he was almost an expert in it.

"You can't keep going like this." He sighed, keeping his voice low as he sat on the edge of Aomine's bed, he kept his hands in his lap as he continued. "Surely you've lost before? And you didn't let it stop you like this."

There was no response so he kept talking, he figured that if he kept talking then Aomine would respond eventually.

"Y-You're a good player, that's why you're our ace. You score more points than the rest of us combined, you're more confident, whenever someone hears our team name they think of you." He heard a sharp inhale from the bundle of blankets. "They don't think of me, or Wakamatsu, Susa or the captain...they think of you."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Aomine's voice sounded strained.

"But it's not." Sakurai replied, feeling his chest tighten as he dwelled on that loss they shared. "And in any case...it's not you're fault we lost. You didn't give away fouls or points like I did. I don't know why I get to share a court with you, I don't deserve to no matter how much they say I do."

"I still lost to someone I swore I'd beat. That shit hurts."

"I'm not saying it doesn't." Sakurai turned slightly, noting that Aomine was facing the wall and showed no sign of moving. "But I'm saying that we're all hurting right now...yet we're all at practice working so that it never happens again, that we don't lose again."

Aomine snorted, his breathing sounded off but Sakurai didn't dare accuse him of crying. "Winning is all I've known Ryou..."

The shock of being referred to by his first name was cancelled out by the clear sob he heard from the larger male. He wasn't sure what to do to try and console the other, so he just let Aomine continue.

"I used to be Tetsu's light...he could only win with me, I was the one who could receive his passes...but in less than a year he found a new light and--and beat me. I've been replaced."

"He could argue that you did the same to him...that you all did." Sakurai said without much thought. He hadn't experienced a bond like the one Aomine spoke of, he had always been a bit of a loner, the only thing he had that was vaguely similar was that of the bond he shared with the team.

Aomine was quiet, his breathing was ragged and Sakurai knew he was crying at this point, he hesitated as he reached out and placed a hand on the ace's exposed shoulder. He expected Aomine to flinch away but if anything his body relaxed slightly.

"H-How could he replace me so easily?"

From what Sakurai knew of the 'miracle break up' - as Momoi had coined it when she told him - it sounded like the entire team had torn itself apart with Kuroko being the one to be left alone, it was no surprise that Kuroko had moved on quickly. Sakurai didn't blame him in all honesty. Yet as reasonable as it was, the pain of realising it had happened had struck Aomine at the worst time and now he was in a depressive slump.

"Because he was hurting too." Sakurai spoke softly as he kept his hand on Aomine's shoulder. "But you can't let it have a hold on you. You have to pick yourself up Daiki..."

"I don't want to." He stated. "I don't want...I just want to sleep and never wake up."

The statement struck a raw nerve in the smaller male. The amount of times he had thought the same thing, that the words had slipped from his lips in the middle of the night were too many to count. He couldn't possibly know exactly how Aomine was feeling but he could try to keep it from pulling the ace under. He squeezed Aomine's shoulder as he tried to put his thoughts into words, the pressure coaxed the ace to roll over onto his back, Sakurai could see the tear-stained cheeks in the gloomy light and the gritted teeth as Aomine's breathing remained unsteady.

"You can't." Sakurai whispered, gaining eye contact with the other. "You can't do that to us Daiki."

"Why not? I'm so easy to replace after all."

"No you're not!" Sakurai stood up abruptly, running a hand through his hair as he willed himself not to cry. "You're not easily replaceable in the slightest!"

"Oh yeah? Well feel free to tell me about all my redeeming qualities." Aomine snapped, sitting up and glaring through glassy eyes at the shooter. "Because from where i'm standing, i'm fucking useless."

Sakurai could feel the familiar yet terrifying feeling in his chest, his clutch persona was starting to bleed into his current self and he didn't want that to happen right now. He clenched a fist and let out an irritated sigh.

"You don't get it do you? You're a fucking god when it comes to basketball Daiki. You know how many of us are jealous of you? Do you know how many of us wish we could make it onto the first string without having to put in weeks and weeks of practice? I meant it when I said I don't deserve to be on that team with you, you're on a whole 'nother level to the rest of us and you're telling me you can be easily replaced?" He had began pacing the cluttered room, trying not to think as he pretty much vented weeks and weeks of pent up emotions at the ace who was by all accounts, ready to give up on everything he had going for him.

"You may not have droves of fangirls like Kise but you still have admirers who'd do anything to have you look twice at them, to talk to them, to show an ounce of gratitude to those around you, to quit wallowing in this tragic past of middle school and focus on being the best you can be. We don't want you to be the next Akashi Seijuurou, we want you to be _you_."

Aomine just stared at Sakurai, he hadn't seen the other so worked up over something before, even his clutch persona held nothing to this emotional side of him. The fact that Sakurai had basically counted himself as one of his admirers hadn't gone unnoticed either.

"It's just so infuriating how you're so arrogant about it all yet you don't acknowledge just how good you are! And this isn't just basketball I'm talking about. You're a smart person by all accounts, you just don't care about anything other than yourself--"

"Shut up." Aomine stated, holding his hand in his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"No, you need to hear this." Sakurai replied, completely lost to his other persona, he wondered if this was how Akashi was rumoured to be like with his split personality.

"I get it!" Aomine snapped, raising his head to look the other in the eye, the air in the room felt heavy as they regarded each other silently. Sakurai was panting slightly, his hands trembling as he ran them through his hair and turned away.

"I'll be going now then." He quietly stated, already coming down from the unwelcome high of his clutch persona as he lost his nerve to continue, lest something was said that he couldn't ever take back.

Aomine was confused, he had just seen the emotional side to his team-mate who clearly had strong feelings regarding him giving up on basketball, yet he were now leaving before the problem was fixed. Something didn't add up and he was intrigued as to why Sakurai of all people had come to his house. Although in hindsight Imayoshi was a heartless bastard and the rest of the team probably hated him regardless.

"Wait." He called as Sakurai reached the door. "Ryou..." He got off the bed and closed the gap between them, Sakurai was trembling all over but whether it was from pent up anger, Aomine didn't know. He wrapped an arm around the smaller boy's chest and pulled him back against his chest. Dainty hands gripped his arm, but not in an attempt to get him to let go. "...I-I'm sorry." He said, unable to think of anything else in that moment.

Sakurai shook his head, staring at the floor with his blurred vision as he clenched his jaw.

Aomine rested his forehead against Sakurai's head as they stood there. He felt guilty. He felt horrible. He was being honest when he said he felt like he'd been replaced, but he hadn't thought about the rest of the team. Sakurai was accurate when he spoke of his arrogance.

"Please don't leave...not like this." He whispered. "Don't leave angry Ryou."

Sakurai's grip on his arm tightened, a small sob escaped him. Aomine took it as a sign to gently coax the other back until they reached his bed. As soon as he could, Aomine pulled him into a hug. Sakurai didn't resist. It didn't take long for Aomine's emotions to set in again, the pain of losing, the pain of rejection from the one he once called friend, the pain of being so blind to his teammates' own feelings on the matter. He didn't realise he was crying until the tears were staining his cheeks again.

As for Sakurai, his hand gripped Aomine's tank top as he let out ragged breaths. He couldn't deal with this feeling of failure in his heart anymore, every mistake he made in a match lead to their ultimate failure. Usually his mistakes were covered up by Aomine's performance but that match had gone to shit because of both of them failing. And he didn't want to see Aomine fail. He didn't like seeing Aomine so broken.

"I-I'm not angry..." He breathed into Aomine's chest. "Not at you Daiki."

"Don't be angry at yourself Ryou...it wasn't your fault." Aomine replied. "I'm meant to be the ace here and I failed."

Sakurai shook his head, sobbing instead of speaking. His chest felt too tight to breathe, his throat was burning as he let out more sobs, to think all this was caused by one match was foolish. This was more than that, this was hours of practice, months of staying behind late to train in sun and the rain, this was trusting everyone on the court wearing that same jersey to give their all to win and still coming up short. He was used to failure but he wasn't used to the pain that this particular failure came with.

He knew exactly why this one was worse than the last but he couldn't find the courage to admit it out loud.

They sat there for a while, holding onto each other for some kind of comfort. Aomine loosened his hold and let Sakurai sit up and hastily wipe his eyes with his hands. The food he had made lay untouched on the table, still slightly warm, so Aomine took it and offered some to the other.

"No...I made it for you..." Sakurai mumbled, averting his gaze. "Food always makes me feel better so--"

"Which is why you should eat." Aomine's voice was raspy but he smiled slightly. "Actually tell you what, we'll split it half and half yeah?"

Sakurai nodded, feeling a little numb after all the crying and yelling. He watched as Aomine used the chopsticks to separate the dish in half and eat a few bites.

"Shit Ryou, you really know how to cook huh." Aomine mumbled with a mouth full of food. Sakurai felt himself blush a little, his chest tightening for a different reason to before.

"I guess." He murmured, looking back and finding Aomine's eyes fixed on him. "W-What?"

The ace offered the now half empty plate to him, Sakurai took it and slowly picked at the food that was mostly cold now. Aomine's gaze was on him the entire time, which was off-putting to a degree but he was strangely okay with it after a while. By the time he had finished he felt more normal, food really did solve a lot of problems.

Then the somewhat awkward silence started.

Aomine set the plate back on the cluttered table but didn't say anything, Sakurai was too nervous to ask if he should leave or not. There was this strange feeling of peace between them, that they had both vented their feelings and knew each other far more intimately than they realised.

"Do you really blame yourself?" Aomine asked, picking at the hem of his shirt.

"Yeah, I miss a lot of shots compared to the rest of you unless I'm in...clutch time." He trailed off. "I feel like I fail every match we play."

Aomine shook his head. "You don't, I'm sure you wouldn't be on the first string if that was the case Ryou..."

He had to ask, there was no way he could let it continue like this. "Why'd you keep calling me by my first name?" He completely avoided looking Aomine in the eye as he started blushing. "N-Not that I have a problem with it."

Aomine himself blushed a little. "...I dunno. It just happened when you were yelling at me and now I cna't stop."

"I was not yelling." Sakurai pouted slightly.

"Psh yeah you were." Aomine smirked. "Giving me a worse lecture than Satsuki."

"Was not!"

Aomine laughed, Sakurai was a little stunned but found himself chuckling too, hearing the ace's laughter for the first time in ages made his heart swell with a little bit of pride. When Aomine's laughter subsided they both smiled at each other.

"...you're alright Ryou..." Aomine sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm glad Satsuki called you."

"Is that your way of saying you'll come back to practice?" Sakurai asked.

"...maybe." Aomine shrugged. "I-I dunno."

Sakurai didn't think as he reached out and took both of aomine's hands in his. "Please Daiki, don't let one loss do this to you. Come back to Touou and practice. We're playing Kaijo soon and we won't stand a chance against Kise and Kasamatsu without you."

The ace looked at the hands holding his, they were dainty yes, but they were calloused from the endless practising the other had gone through to reach where he was in the team. It bought his mind back to how Sakurai counted himself as an admirer and how he should show gratitude to those around him.

"One condition." He murmured.

"What?" Sakurai asked.

"...you go on a date with me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...much...fluff.
> 
> I think I spent about half the afternoon just holding my head in my hands at how cute some of this is.

Two

Sakurai wasn't sure how it happened, one minute he was yelling at Aomine and the next he was sobbing into his chest. then, less than five minutes later they were laughing together and Aomine had said he'd come back to the club on _one_ condition; that Sakurai went on a date with him.

And Sakurai had said yes.

He wasn't regretting it in the slightest, however it was odd going on a _date_ with the ace of his team. He hadn't even heard of Aomine being gay. Had Aomine even come out of the closet? More importantly, how did he know that Sakurai swung that way?

These were just some of the thoughts bubbling in his mind as he waited for Aomine to collect him from his home. It had been two days since he had gone to the ace's house to persuade him to come back to the team, Momoi knew the agreement they had come to and seemed to know more than she was letting on. Had Aomine come out to her already? Did she already pick up on his own crush on the ace? Either way, Imayoshi seemed surprised to see Aomine back at practice and was curious to know _how_ Momoi had done it, thankfully she didn't answer, letting Sakurai avoid all awkward questions for now.

His parents had noticed he was more highly strung than usual, he didn't want to confess that it was because he was going on a date - it would prompt him to actually tell his parents he was gay and he was definitely not ready for that - so he just blamed it on a class assignment being due in. It worked out well because he could then say he was going to a friend's house to study for said assignment, not that there was going to be any kind of academic studying going on with Aomine that day.

When the ace showed up, he was wearing his usual casual clothes of jeans and a loose shirt and Sakurai tried not to be so obvious about staring at the toned arms on show. Aomine seemed to have gotten his memo about his parents not knowing he was gay as he nodded in polite greeting before they left. Sakurai wasn't actually sure what they were even going to be doing on this date, Aomine hadn't asked him for any suggestions so clearly the ace had it all planned out in his mind.

"So where are we going?" Sakurai timidly asked as they walked down the street towards the train station.

"Hm? Oh well I wanted to thank you in a way for the other day, so I'm taking you to one of my favourite places to eat. My treat." He smiled, there was no trace of the usual mockery or arrogance in Aomine that day. "And then I guess we can see if there's any interesting stuff happening around the restaurant and just do whatever."

It sounded more like a casual day out between friends rather than a romantic date. Sakurai was caught between being relieved that Aomine was so relaxed and being slightly put out that the other didn't seem to have a solid plan. He wanted to reach out and take the other's hand but he was so confused as to how Aomine saw him, did he just use to word 'date' interchangeably with friends and lovers?

The train journey was a short one, they spoke about basketball mainly or the current class assignments that neither of them were doing on that day off. When they got off the train, Sakurai half expected to be taken to a really cheap diner or something, instead he was surprised to be walking in a high end part of the district. He felt rather under-dressed for some of the places he was walking by. Aomine was at ease as he gestured to a side street, Sakurai still said nothing as they arrived at a small family-run establishment. It was a cosy place, warm and welcoming with tables and booths alike. They were greeted by a cheerful waitress who led them to a booth near the back of the restaurant, out of sight of most of the other patrons.

As soon as Sakurai sat down, he was aware that Aomine was watching him.

"...what?" He asked quietly, feeling paranoid and self-conscious all at once.

"Nothing." Aomine shook his head, an amused smile on his face which made Sakurai wonder if he had something on his face. "You're just very quiet today in comparison to the other day."

"W-Well I'm not yelling at you to come back to practice am I?" Sakurai replied with a nervous laugh, he wanted to ask if this was a friendly affair or something else entirely but he stopped himself.

"True, but you seem tense. Something eating at you?"

It was strange, how considerate Aomine was being. It was like yelling at him had broken through the outer shell of arrogance to reveal this softer side to the ace. It just made Sakurai fall for him even more.

"N-No." He lied, busying himself with looking over the menu, trying to hide behind the booklet because he was sure he was blushing heavily. He read the words over and over again but not really taking in their meaning, he was on the edge of having some kind of anxiety attack when the waitress returned.

"What do you want Ryou?" Aomine asked, cool as a cucumber and the smaller boy was slightly envious of his confidence.

"Uh, whatever you're having." He replied, hoping he wasn't completely red-faced. Aomine held his gaze for a split second, deep blue eyes standing out against his tanned complexion before he turned to the waitress and ordered two dishes of teriyaki chicken. A silence fell between them as Sakurai's chest tightened, with no menus to distract himself he was left fidgeting with his hands on the table.

Aomine had been watching his teammate's nervous behaviour, he wasn't sure what to do about it. He found it cute but he knew the other wasn't going to calm down any time soon if he didn't do something. He wasn't sure when he had started taking an interest in the other, Momoi seemed to think it was when he started stealing Sakurai's homemade-bento which would make sense as he loved food. Either way, over the past few weeks he had started getting closer to the other, sharing a class made it easier but when it came to basketball it was difficult to talk to Sakurai without him apologising every two seconds.

"S-Sorry." Sakurai mumbled.

"Eh?"

"I said I'm sorry!" He avoided looking at Aomine. "I-I'm really bad at talking like this."

"It's cool, don't worry about it Ryou." Aomine replied, eyeing the other's hands and wondering if taking hold of them would make the small boy short circuit on the spot. "Something _is_ eating at you isn't it?"

Sakurai's eyes widened, he always looked caught between guilty and terrified and sometimes Aomine couldn't help but chuckle. He hid his laughter behind his hand as he waited for the other to reply with something other than an apology.

"Uhm..." Sakurai uttered, managing to maintain eye contact this time as he bit on his lip. Aomine felt an urge to kiss the other but even he knew that could end badly in that moment. "I guess..."

He wasn't able to finish his thought as the food arrived; two plates of chicken over steaming rice that smelt mouth-watering to Sakurai. The ace was unable to suppress his smile as the smaller boy eyed the food in awe.

"Itadakimasu." Aomine quietly murmured as he picked up his chopsticks. Sakurai looked caught in the headlights as he nodded and repeated the phrase back.

From the first bite, Sakurai was in food heaven. His nerves seemed to melt away slightly as he ate, even watching Aomine with a small smile as the other made light conversation. By the time they both finished eating, Sakurai's paranoia was at an all time low and Aomine could see it in the way he was much more relaxed and free with his body language. Resting his elbows on the table, Sakurai leaned forward slightly and started asking about how Aomine knew of the restaurant.

"Hm? Oh I came here a few time with Kise and Tetsu." Aomine shrugged, equally at ease now that he had eaten, though he hadn't let on before; he had been nervous himself about the outing. "They do the best teriyaki."

"I can tell, when I make it at home the sauce isn't as rich. I'm still getting the hang of it."

"You're a guy after my heart Ryou, or rather my stomach." Aomine remarked, watching Sakurai blush. He was no good at talking as smoothly as Kise did to girls so he had interrogated the blond for ideas - much to Kise's amusement when he found out who Aomine was trying to impress - and so far they seemed to be working.

"I-I mean one day maybe I can cook it for you and you can tell me how to improve." The smaller boy was trying not to avert his gaze again but the cheesiness of the sentiment was too much.

"I never turn down free food." Aomine smiled, reaching out and placing a hand over Sakurai's rubbing the pad of his thumb over the other's. He kept his gaze on the doe eyes that regarded him in partial surprise, then noted the swipe of Sakurai's tongue against his bottom lip.

The shooter's heart was racing as his gaze flickered between Aomine's eyes and the hand on top of his. He wasn't sure what to do, it was a good a sign as any that this was not a simple outing between friends anymore. Hesitantly, he lifted his hand up enough to splay his fingers, Aomine took the hint and mirrored the action until their fingers intertwined. When their gazes met again Sakurai smiled, no longer caring how red his cheeks were as he could now see the tint on Aomine's face as the ace tried to seem nonchalant about the entire thing. The contrast in their skin tones made it seem all the more noticeable, but that was just the visual difference, Aomine's hands were rough from the years of basketball but Sakurai's hand felt like it belonged there.

"So...uh...do you want dessert?" Aomine asked with a slightly flustered smile, he knew if anyone other than Sakurai saw him now he'd be a laughing stock. "Still my treat."

"S-Sure." The other replied. "Nothing too big though..."

"Got it." Aomine grinned, signalling the waitress over and spoke quietly to her so Sakurai didn't hear what he ordered. She nodded with a smile and took their empty plates away, leaving just their hands on the table.

The silence that fell this time was a lot less awkward than the ones before it. Sakurai's gaze seemed to be fixed on their hands as he moved his thumb in slow circles. Aomine didn't feel like breaking the silence with unnecessary talking, he simply mirrored Sakurai's movements until they ended up having a light-hearted thumb war. A small bubbly laugh escaped the smaller boy as they got way too into the childish game, Aomine's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He wasn't sure he had heard such a pure laugh before.

"Now I'm _really_ happy Satsuki called you over to my house..." Aomine sighed, accepting defeat and letting Sakurai rub circles into his thumb joint.

"Mmm...so am I." Sakurai replied, his nerves were still present but a lot less noticeable as he smiled at the ace. "Though I don't know why she picked me of all people..."

"'t's cause you were just as beaten up about it as me." He shrugged. "Makes sense for us to pick each other up I suppose."

Any response Sakurai had was cut off by the waitress returning with a single parfait bowl, his eyes widened again as he took in the strawberries topped with whipped cream. Aomine accepted the two spoons from the waitress and offered one to Sakurai, insisting that Sakurai had the first bite and not bothering to hide his fond smile as he watched the bliss break out on the other's face.

"Good?" He asked.

"Mmhmm!" Sakurai replied, mouth full of strawberry preventing him talking. He covered his mouth as he laughed, eyes bright as he ate and waited for the ace to take a bite too.

Usually Aomine would've made some obscene comment about the whipped cream, but that day he felt Sakurai wouldn't react as well to it as his old teammates would've. Not that it was a problem per say, but it did leave him with nothing to say as they took it in turns to eat from the bowl. When they reached the ice cream part, Aomine felt like being daring.

"Hold up." He stated with a smile, holding a spoonful of the what seemed to be vanilla ice cream between them. Sakurai looked from the spoon to Aomine and back again, biting on his lip as the ace offered the spoon to him. He didn't object as he parted his lips and let the other feed him, but his face flushed red at the same time Aomine's did.

A shy smile broke out on his face as he backed away from Aomine, the ace himself was a little speechless at how attractive Sakurai had made such a simple act look. He put it down to the doe eyes. He cleared his throat as they continued eating, Sakurai's cheeks remaining rosy as he held his spoon out to Aomine without a word. The ace felt his chest tighten as he was now on the receiving end of his own daring move.

No sooner had they both finished eating, did Aomine declare he was going to go and pay. The afternoon was still young as they stepped back out into the busy street, they kept stealing glances at each other until Aomine sighed heavily and took Sakurai's hand in his. They made their way to the local shopping mall, looking for nothing in particular between the stores. They struck up conversations about a variety of things from their middle school days to why they started playing basketball in first place. Aomine was surprised that a manga of all things was what got Sakurai interested in the sport.

"A manga...aren't those mostly about love and shit?" He asked as Sakurai fessed up to being a fan of the stuff.

"No! Well, a lot of them are..." Sakurai pouted slightly. "But there are non-romance ones too, I'll show you." He declared, tugging Aomine into a bookstore. The ace didn't remember the last time he was in a bookstore, yet he was willing to indulge the other in this activity. It was strange seeing Sakurai so pumped up about something non-sport related, strange but _good_.

He found himself in front of several shelves of small books, they were nowhere near as thick as the boring textbooks he had to read for class and they seemed a lot more colourful. He watched as Sakurai examined the shelves until he found what he was looking for, the thoughtful look on his face made Aomine reconsider his stance on going to bookstores.

"Here, this is the one I read before joining the club." Sakurai smiled, presenting Aomine with the first volume of this basketball manga he had read, the cover was definitely colourful and the artwork was impressive. "It's about a team who used to be a powerhouse school but lost their coach and then had to play to regain their pride. It's pretty great actually...like it talks about trusting your team and all these hopelessly fancy plays that are really unrealistic--"

"Do you have a copy?" Aomine abruptly asked, having flicked through the first few pages.

"Eh? Oh...uhm yeah. I have the entire manga collection at home..." Sakurai shyly admitted.

"...could I uh borrow them?" Aomine's voice dropped to a low murmur, if Momoi heard he was reading manga he'd never hear the end of it. Sakurai's face lit up in a smile.

"Yeah, just don't damage them okay? They cost a lot..." He replied, plucking the book from Aomine's hands and setting it back on the shelf. He smiled again as he took Aomine's hand again, squeezing it as the ace nodded in response to his question. "So, where to now?"

Aomine shrugged as they walked out of the bookstore, he just wanted to spend more time with Sakurai at this point but he had a feeling that if he asked the other back to his place he'd take it the wrong way. "Is there any other stores you wanna go to?"

The shooter shook his head. "I'm fine thanks Daiki."

Aomine almost refused to believe this was the same self-blaming team-mate of his, there were no trace of nerves in the way Sakurai spoke or moved, he was confident in himself. Was this the ace's effect on him? Was Sakurai so at ease because of him that he didn't even stutter? That thought alone made him smile to himself.

Just as he was about to suggest they wandered around some more stores, Sakurai's phone started buzzing. He answered whilst still holding onto Aomine's hand, his smile faded a little and Aomine felt a little concerned at what was going on.

"That was my mom, she wants me home soon." He relayed to the ace once he finished the call.

"Psh you have a curfew?" Aomine teased, poking Sakurai's nose playfully. "Lame."

"Nu-uh!" Sakurai protested. "We have family coming to visit in a few days so she wants me to help her prepare the futons and stuff."

"Still, lame."

"Your face is lame."

Aomine looked at Sakurai with a stunned expression, Sakurai looked back with a smug smirk. When Aomine was able to speak again they were at the train station. "Psh whatever, you're still in love with this face aren't you?" He whispered as they boarded a crowded train back home.

"That doesn't mean it's not lame." Sakurai whispered back, giggling as Aomine pretended to be offended.

"You're lucky you're cute Ryou..." He hummed resting his head on top of Sakurai's as the train rumbled on.

"And you're lucky you're good at basketball."

"Will you quit being sassy? What happened to the quiet and shy act huh?"

"I don't need it anymore, not when I'm around you Daiki." Sakurai hummed, resting his head against Aomine's chest. He could feel the other's heart racing as the train slowed to a stop, they got off, still holding hands as Aomine walked the other back to his home.

Aomine almost didn't want to let go of Sakurai's hand as they reached the gate that lead up a path to his front door. Thankfully he didn't need to start the sombre goodbyes.

"I had a lot of fun today Daiki." Sakurai stated with a fond smile. "We should do it again sometime."

"It could be a regular thing y'know..." Aomine hummed closing the gap between them a little. "If you catch my drift."

Sakurai's smile grew a little, biting on his bottom lip for a second before nodding. "I'd like that Daiki..."

"Really?" Aomine actually couldn't believe this was happening. "You're not joking around are you?"

Dainty fingers came up to cup his cheek, soft against his skin and silently drawing him to lean down. "Why would I joke about this?" Sakurai whispered once they were barely inches away from each other.

"...true..." Aomine breathed, taking the hint. He tilted Sakurai's chin up ever-so-slightly and pressed his lips to the other's. It was short and sweet, but promising something much more. As Aomine pulled away he couldn't help but lightly bump his forehead against Sakurai's. He felt light-headed and warm all over, like everything that was wrong in his world was now right just from one afternoon.

"See you tomorrow then." Sakurai's smile was contagious, Aomine decided. "And don't you dare skip practice."

"Wouldn't dream of it Ryou." He replied, finally letting go of the other's hand and letting him walk up to his front door. He stayed there until he saw the other was safely inside before making his way home. He sent a text to Momoi to tell her everything, she was overjoyed that things had worked out and that Aomine now had an incentive to attend practice more, she was also happy that Sakurai had come out of his shell more because of the entire fiasco.

Imayoshi got the shock of his life the next day when not only was Aomine at practice, but he was _early_ and he was actively trying to help Sakurai improve his shooting. Wakamatsu and Susa were very confused by their ace's sudden change in behaviour, they were secretly betting on why it had happened - reasons ranged from Aomine getting laid to him having a pre-midlife crisis at seventeen. Everything was made clear when Susa happened to witness Aomine nonchalantly kissing Sakurai's forehead before carrying on with his training.

Momoi would happily state that she had called it, but no-one was willing to believe her. No-one except Sakurai that is, for he still hadn't figured out how she knew he was gay, but maybe some questions were better left unanswered.  


 


End file.
